The recent arrests of Mayor Pat Gutierrrez and the members of the Sangguniang
Bayan of Tiwi for indirect contempt of court issued by Quezon City RTC Judge
Lucio Bersamin for the failure of the said Municipal officials to pay Atty.
Antonio Betito of some Php 21 Million in attorneys fee for his supposed role and
service rendered in the release of the money from the taxes of NPC/PGI paid to
Tiwi several years ago have stirred a hornet's nest, so to speak.

It revives the animosity and restores the mudslinging between the two camps of
the main protagonists in Tiwi politics namely the camp of the incumbent Mayor
Pat on one side against the camp of Vice-Mayor Ruth Corral on the other.

The trouble started when the Adorada was arrested together with the members of
the Sangguniang Bayan. Suspicions of treachery on the part of the Labarot
surfaced when she was nowhere in the vicinity of the Municipal building
considering that it is the first working day of the week, being a Monday. There
were insinuations that they were tipped off by Atty. Betito himself about the
impending arrests which caught the Tiwi leadership flat-footed to spare her of
the humiliation of being arrested right in front of her constituents and the
fact that they were political allies and business partners.

The situation further came to a head when after the Vice-Mayor and one Kagawad
Jesus Consulta presented themselves to the PNP provincial office signed a
manifesto or papers to that effect supporting the payment of 21 million pesos to
Atty. Betito and was subsequently released from the PNP Provincial Directo's
custody and assuming the post of acting Mayor of Tiwi with Kagawad Consulta as
her acting Vice-Mayor.

It's somewhat of a political coup for the camps and supporters of the Vice-Mayor
and thus, putting one up over the heads of Mayor Pat and her allies. It is a
classic case of political opportunism of the first degree though, if you ask me.

For a backgrounder, the issue of the supposed hiring of Atty. Betito occurred
during the incumbency of the late Mayor Naomi Corral, who incidentally is just
the mother of the present Vice-Mayor. When the new administration took over they
refused to honor the supposedly contract by citing that it is disadvantageous to
the welfare of the people of Tiwi and without a proof of the said contract on
paper that Atty. Betito could produce and thus, ignored his demands which
prompted him to sue the Municipal government. To make the long story short,
Atty. Betito won the case and the refusal of the incumbent officials of Tiwi to
come up with the payment led to the issuance of the warrants of arrest for
indirect contempt of court. The case is however on appeal to the Court of
Appeals while Pat and company continued to languish in jail while waiting for
the resolution of their motion to quash and certiorari that their lawyers filed
on their behalf. Tiwi, without a functioning Sangguniang Bayan continues to
suffer a political vacuum.

The 21 million peso-question that continues to baffle the common Tiwinhons is on
why did we had to hire the services of Atty. Betito for the release of the money
coming from the taxes paid by the management of NPC-PGI for the operation of the
geothermal fields that is due to Tiwi anyway as provided for in the Local
Government Code? Or why did the Municipal officials then led by Mayor Corral did
not pay Atty. Betito his fair (?) share?

The answer is quite obvious. The hiring of Atty. Antonio Betito by the
administration of the late Mayor Corral in the guise of facilitating the release
of the bulk of the money from Malacanang was a pact with the Devil. It is
designed to bleed the Municipal coffers of the money that rightfully belongs to
the people of Tiwi. It is a case of highway robbery to the nth degree.

Now, the camp of Labarot is passing the blame to the hands of Mayor Pat and her
allies thereby washing their hands off from the real issue. They cited all the
alleged sins of omissions and commissions of the incumbent mayor. They are using
the blabber-mouth Ito Alarte as their mouthpiece in lambasting the present
administrations on the family-controlled Radyo Natin bombarding the airwaves
with vicious propaganda that would put Joseph Goebbels and the Nazi war machines
to shame. All these efforts to hide the real score do not sit well to the people
of Tiwi for they know better. They should at least call a spade a spade and tell
the truth and let them stand on its merits, if any.

This is not the time to rock the boat and divide the house. We need to be united
in this fight to expose a sham. The action of the Vice-mayor and Kagawad
Consulta in forging an unholy alliance with Atty.Betito to further their own
gains is quite Garapal! It is an action unbecoming of elected officials that is
supposed to fight for the welfare of their constituents. It almost made me puke.
It does not sit well with the people of Tiwi.

The charges of corruption against the present administration are not the issue
in this case although I will not dispute the allegations. The issue here whether
it is right or proper to pay Atty. Antonio Betito for the services that he
claimed to have rendered to the people of Tiwi.

You be the judge.

COC- October 14, 2002

WHAT'S WRONG WITH US?

Most of us, our leaders and the people of Tiwi, are suffering from a serious
case of myopia. Our self-proclaimed messiahs do not have the foresight or the
vision of what is right and good for the people. Their only concern is on how to
strike it big, realize their worldly ambitions and fill their pockets with lots
of moolahs!

You will see a lot of projects that only benefited them but not the people. Most
of them has the edifice mentality--a state of mind that have them obsessed of
erecting buildings and infrastructures that will serve as their monuments for
people to remember them by as well as to satisfy their bloated egos, no matter
how useless to the welfare of their constituents their projects may be!

Thus, you no longer wonder when you see roads being inaugurated half-finished or
ask why the relatives of the powers that be cornered the contracts for the
bridge that was destroyed by the floods, etc. etc.!

You just shake your head in anger when the only people that are given
employments albeit "casuals" are the supporters of the people in power
resulting in overstaffing even though many of them are doing practically nothing
except to scratch their butt while trying to look busy struggling to pass the
day in the office and are not even qualified for the job in the first place. The
end result of which is wasting precious taxpayers' money for the salaries of
these political appointees that could have gone to other worthwhile endeavors of
the government. Itís a classic case of-"Whom you know and not on what you
know" and "it's payback time again" traditions rearing its ugly
head!

You just shake your head in disbelief when the Morons in the Sanggunian Bayan
approved the resolution granting the entire population free electricity
regardless of their status in society (read Jess Lapid Cuadro or Catalino Cope
vs. Bernardo Corral or Tomas Vera) resulting in the near-bankruptcy of the local
government. Where is fairness and equality there, if you ask me?

You just shake your head in hopelessness when the elected officials and their
ilk started flaunting their newly acquired wealth from SOP's and under the table
deals that they have entered into without any feeling of guilt nor shame on the
manner of how they've acquired them which only showed their lack of a sense of
propriety and complete disrespect, utter disregard and contempt for the
Tiwinhons!

We deplore the loss of honesty and integrity as well as the sense of decency and
morality in government service yet WE DO NOTHING!

We continue to support them and elect them and turn a blind eye on the graft and
corruptions that are being committed right in our very own backyard so long as
they give us a token of their loot whenever we ask them for help in times of
need.

These practices that are prevalent in our town encourages a Culture of
Mendicancy!

You do not give fish to those in need because that will result in them depending
on you forever but teach them how to fish and they will be independent and
useful to the society.

Instead of wasting a fortune on projects that did not directly benefit the
people, our local officials should have spent it wisely for the promotion of a
sound and effective health, livelihood and educational programs in order to
alleviate the people from poverty!

They should have spent good money on the education of the poor but deserving
Tiwinhons by giving out scholarships and subsidies!

They should have asked the management of NPC-PGI regarding their needs on the
manpower and technical sides and send some of the people to technical courses
and trainings to gain skills so that they could gain employment and become
competitive right in their hometown!

They should have invited investors to invest in Tiwi in order to generate more
jobs by giving out say 30 percent subsidy on their electrical consumption on the
condition that they should hire or give priority to Tiwinhons!

They should have built a non-stock, non-profit hospital with free medical
services to everyone manned with competent and able personnel selected based not
on political affiliations but on knowledge and skills!

They should have arrested the gambling operators and drug peddlers who are known
to the people and authorities alike anyway in order to put a stop on the
proliferations of gambling and drug trafficking that are destroying the moral
fibers of our youth by going after these shenanigans!

I could go on and on and on rambling about anything and everything!

Is this some kind of a Utopian struggle and therefore unattainable?

Nah, the possibilities are endless if only our leaders have the vision and the
political will to do what is right and proper for their constituents who voted
them into office.

This is not to cast aspersions on the intentions and integrity as well as the
capabilities of our local officials BUT it is something left to be desired!

I hope that idealism is not yet dead and a lost virtue on this side of the
planet...

Let us give the new leadership a chance to prove itself that they deserve the
trust and confidence of the people who put them into office.

Let us work for a Peaceful and Prosperous Tiwi.

Yet, Let us be Vigilant against Graft & Corruption!

Let us help remind them that a Public Office is a Public Trust!

Let us not condone the wrongdoings committed by our municipal officials!

Let the new leadership show its political will by going after these erring
public officials!

Let there be no sacred cows!

Let the axe fall to where it is due!

There can be No Reconciliation without Justice!

Absolve the innocents and Prosecute the guilty with the Full Force of the Law!

The Challenge is now on Mayor Pat et al!

Where to, Tiwi?

The last Elections showed the lack of maturity of the people of Tiwi,
Albay.

Many of the deserving candidates lost while those candidates with dubious
reputations and questionable characters won.

Many concerned Tiwinhons are perplexed and at a loss on why Ruth Corral
whose only claim to fame is being the progeny of an influential family and
nothing more won the Vice-mayoralty position over Architect Jaime
Villanueva, a person with proven tract record during his short stint in
the town council as president of the Association Of Barangay Captains
(ABC) of Tiwi or the election for a second term of incumbent Kagawad
Ulysses Pacis who is known to engage in illegal logging and dynamite
fishing while incumbent Kagawad Bennett Templado, a no-nonsense fiscalizer
in the Sanggunian Bayan lost.

These are just two of the cases that i consider as shocking to say the
least!

Like in the past, Money flowed like water. Vote-buying, Intrigues and
Character Assassinations were the orders of the day. The issues raised
ranged from the usual charges of CORRUPTION to the absurd like the
identity of Catalino Cope!

Many of the candidates who won were elected not because of credentials,
integrity and performance but on how much money he or she can dole out to
the people. Tiwi was awashed with money on election day that ranged from
250-300 pesos for Mayor, 100-200 pesos for the Vice-Mayor and 20-80 pesos
for a Councilor.

Many old-timers lament the fact that because of the experience in this
election wherein the color of money reared its ugly head and figured
prominently rather than issues, future political exercises would never be
the same again in Tiwi.It is really disheartening to realize that
"WHEN MONEY TALKS, PEOPLE LISTEN!"

My heart bleeds for Tiwi and its people.

For what they don't realized was by electing leaders with poor credentials
and tract records because of money and whose only aim and motivation is to
recoup their expenses in the elections, this is where GRAFT and CORRUPTION
sets in. Thus, self-interests will always be paramount on their agenda and
the interest of the people will once again just be relegated to the
backround and thrown by the wayside! And it is a vicious cycle and a
hopeless case wherein the end is no longer in sight?!

And as the Great Philosopher George Santayana once said, and I quote,
"THOSE WHO REFUSED TO REMEMBER THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST ARE CONDEMNED
TO REPEAT IT."

Quo vadis, Tiwi?

COC- MAY 21, 2001

BE NOT AFRAID

As I said before and I say it again if you have nothing to hide or have done
nothing wrong against your fellowmen then you should not be afraid.

One need not be an expert to observe that the targets of my diatribes are people
especially our elected local officials who in one way or another committed sins
and excesses against his or her kahimanwas.

The moralist in us would say that, "Why wash dirty linen in public?"
or "Let him who has no sin cast the first stone!"

Although we are human beings and thus subject to its frailties and imperfections
yet are gifted by God or Nature with brains and intelligence which
differentiates us from other lower life forms and species. We are expected
therefore to act in accordance with the laws of God and Man.

It is on these tenets that our local officials, like Caesar's wife must be above
suspicion. Being elected into office is not a right acquired by birth or
whatever that is given to a person rather it is more of a privilege- a mandate
to serve the people with all honesty and to the best of their abilities.

But this does not include enriching themselves while in office and engaging in
graft and corruption and other illegal activities.

All is not lost though, for hope springs eternal as they say.

But only if our local officials set aside their personal ambitions and monetary
considerations and work in favor of a genuine reform and service oriented
government.

That is the greatest legacy that they can leave behind to their children and the
people of Tiwi.